Alphacool Eisblock HDX-2 M.2 SSD Cooler Review

SSD drives are getting faster each year but with that speed also come some additional issues which users try to solve. Two of the most popular issues are high drive temperature and limited bandwidth because of motherboard design.

To help with mentioned issues, Alphacool designed the Eisblock HDX M.2 SSD cooler series. In this review we will focus on the HDX-2 so PCIe version of the cooler.

Additionally we will check performance of the HDX-2 in RAID what I hope will be interesting.

The Eisblock HDX-2 seems like a really handy device and I bet you are interested how does it perform so I won’t make this introduction any longer. Let’s move to the product description.

The Eisblock HDX-2 is a massive aluminium cooler for every M.2 PCIe SSD. This enormous cooler almost entirely prevents drops in performance due to the M.2 SSD overheating. Its included backplate also expands the enormous cooler’s performance and ensures complete coverage and protection of your M.2 SSD.

The included 4x PCIe plug-in card provides your SSD a maximum bandwidth of around 3900 MB/s. That’s around 600% more than the bandwidth a normal SATA plug-in provides an SSD, which is capped at 640 MB/s. Even most motherboard M.2 slots only offer a 2x PCIe connection, which halves the maximum bandwidth.

The black cooler body looks sophisticated and elegant despite its massive size, fitting in nicely with the overall look of your PC. The card and cooler are screwed to the PCI slot on your case and sit securely in their position.